'Sack threat to gov't staff at anti-GST rally is wrong'

Gerakan Youth has taken chief secretary to the government Ali Hamsa to task for his threat to sack civil servants involved in the anti-Goods and Services Tax (GST) protest.

"With due respect to Ali Hamsa, the BN federal government is not a dictatorship," Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang stressed in a statement today.

"As the chief secretary to the government, he should not have issued any statement that is against the principles of democracy enshrined in our federal constitution."

Tan (left) said if Ali felt any civil servant had broken the law under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, he should leave the matter to the police.

"Civil servants are still citizens of Malaysia. They should not be threatened with dismissal for exercising their rights protected under the federal constitution."

Gerakan Youth urged the chief secretary to the government not to take matters into his own hands and go against the federal constitution.

This is against the founding principles of BN," added Tan.

Some 50,000 participants thronged Dataran Merdeka on May 1 to protest the Goods and Services Tax which was passed in Parliament last month and will come into effect on April 1, 2015.

Following this, Ali warned that civil servants who had participated in the rally may face stern action including termination, citing that they cannot go against the aspirations and policies of the government.